title: Right renal vein extension with cryopreserved external iliac artery allografts in living-donor kidney transplantations.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  A short right renal vein remains a challenge for renal transplant surgery, especially in the living donor. Our objective was to report on a new technique to solve this problem.
  
  
  METHODS
  We describe our experience with the use of cryopreserved iliac artery grafts for right renal vein extension. Two renal grafts from living donors with a short right renal vein were subjected to an extension with a cryopreserved external iliac artery allograft. There were no perioperative or postoperative complications. There were also no changes in ischemia times. The renal implantation was performed easily and conveniently using our standard technique. For the first and second procedures, at 3 and 3.5 years after surgery, respectively, both vascular grafts maintain good patency, and the renal function of both recipients is optimal.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Tissue-banked cryopreserved cadaveric vessels can be a useful tool in renal transplant surgery. The use of a cryopreserved iliac artery for renal vein extension is a simple and effective new technique that can be added to the pool of surgical solutions for a short renal vein in living-donor kidney transplantation. To our knowledge, this is the first time that the use of such grafts for this purpose has been described.
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology, Hospital Universitario Virgen de las Nieves, Granada, Spain. Electronic address: nacho.puchesanz@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Ignacio
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Puche-Sanz
authors.forename: Manrique
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Pascual-Geler
authors.forename: Fernando
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Vázquez-Alonso
authors.forename: Adoración María
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Hernández-Vidaña
authors.forename: José Francisco
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Flores-Martín
authors.forename: Eduardo
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Espejo-Maldonado
authors.forename: José Manuel
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Cózar-Olmo
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D064591:Allografts; D000714:Anastomosis, Surgical; D050377:Cold Ischemia; D015925:Cryopreservation; D006801:Humans; D007083:Iliac Artery / Q000637:transplantation*; D016030:Kidney Transplantation / Q000379:methods*; D019520:Living Donors; D008875:Middle Aged; D012082:Renal Veins / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D014654:Vascular Patency